Engineering Precision Oncology in Low Earth Orbit
Encapsulate’s fully automated tumor-on-a-chip platform is advancing cancer research beyond Earth. Our microfluidic biochips are designed to operate aboard the International Space Station, enabling experiments that cannot be performed in terrestrial laboratories.
By combining patient-derived tumor models with controlled microfluidic environments in our platform, we investigate how biophysical forces shape cancer behavior, drug response, and disease progression.
Why Study Cancer in Space?
Gravity influences fundamental biological processes including cell signaling, tissue organization, and fluid transport. When gravity is removed, these processes behave differently.
Microgravity provides a powerful environment to investigate biological dynamics that are often masked by Earth-bound forces. This unique environment can reveal aspects of cancer biology that remain difficult or impossible to observe under terrestrial conditions.
For tumor biology, this creates opportunities to reveal new insights into:
- Three-dimensional tumor architecture and cellular organization
- Drug diffusion and penetration in tumor tissue
- Cancer cell migration and metastatic behavior
- Tumor -microenvironment interactions involving immune and stromal cells
- Mechanobiology and signaling pathways influenced by gravitational forces
- Advanced disease modeling that captures cancer progression and development of drug resistance
Encapsulate’s Space-Ready Platform
Encapsulate has engineered a fully automated tumor-on-a-chip system capable of executing complex biology in orbit. By integrating miniaturized microfluidics, automated control systems, and stable biological culture environments, this device meets the rigorous demands of space-based experimentation.
We partner with flight implementation partners such as Space Tango to deploy and operate experiments aboard the International Space Station.
Key capabilities include:
Closed Microfluidic Architecture
Fully sealed fluidic channels allow precise perfusion and nutrient delivery without reliance on gravity-driven flow.
Automated Environmental Control
Programmable microfluidics regulate media exchange, drug dosing, and environmental stability, enabling long-duration experiments without manual intervention.
Compact Experimental Footprint
The integrated system enables hundreds of tumor microtissues to be cultured simultaneously within a highly compact payload.
Operational Robustness
The system is engineered to function reliably under the vibration, launch stress, and fluid behavior constraints associated with spaceflight.
Translational Development Goals
Our clinical development efforts focus on understanding how microgravity conditions influence tumor biology and therapeutic response.
Key research areas include:
- Investigating how microgravity influences tumor architecture, proliferation patterns, and cellular organization.
- Examining how chemotherapeutic responses change when fluid transport, diffusion, and cellular mechanics differ from terrestrial conditions.
- Studying how the absence of gravitational force alters mechanotransduction pathways that regulate tumor progression.
- Using microgravity environments to explore biological states that may better mimic early tumor formation or metastatic behavior.
Supported by Competitive Research Funding
Encapsulate’s space-based program is supported through competitive grants designed to advance biomedical discovery and development in microgravity environments.
Featured Coverage
Our work has been highlighted by the ISS National Laboratory and other federal research initiatives.
Click title to view feature:
IEEE
March 2026
ISS
July 2025
UConn Today
October 2025
PR Newswire
August 2025
ISS
Jan 2026
ISS
March 2024
NASA InSA
December 2025
ISS
March 2024
Hartford Business Journal
September 2023
Hartford Business Journal
October 2022
ISS
October 2019
From Orbit to the Clinic
The ultimate objective of Encapsulate’s space program is to improve cancer treatment on Earth.
By studying tumor behavior under microgravity conditions, we generate biological insights that directly strengthen our tumor-on-a-chip platform and improve its ability to model patient-specific disease and predict therapeutic response.
Clinical Impact
More Predictive Tumor Models
Microgravity promotes the formation of three-dimensional tumor structures that more closely resemble tumors in the human body, enabling more physiologically relevant modeling of tumor behavior, drug response, and resistance.
Deeper Insights Into Cancer Biology
Changes in gene expression, signaling pathways, and cell behavior observed in microgravity reveal mechanisms that drive tumor progression and therapeutic resistance.
Improved Functional Drug Testing
Microgravity can shift a tumor’s sensitivity to chemotherapy and alter gene expression, helping us identify novel drug targets, predictive biomarkers, and treatment strategies.
Understanding Disease Mechanisms Faster
Microgravity accelerates certain cellular processes, including immune system changes and cellular stress. This allows us to study tumor evolution and disease development mechanisms on shortened timelines.
Expanding the Frontier of Biomedical Research
Encapsulate’s work in space reflects a broader vision: leveraging extreme environments to unlock biological insights that remain inaccessible through conventional laboratory research.
Our tumor-on-a-chip platform enables a new generation of microgravity oncology experiments, bringing precision cancer biology into one of the most advanced research laboratories ever built: the International Space Station.
Time to Launch
Next Mission Countdown
Encapsulate’s next spaceflight experiment will deploy new tumor-on-a-chip studies in microgravity aboard the International Space Station.
Stay tuned as we continue expanding the frontier of space-enabled precision oncology.
Launch Countdown Timer for NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35
August 15, 2026
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
:
Minute(s)
:
Second(s)